04:51 PM EDT, 04/24/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Aecon Group ( AEGXF ) on Wednesday said its first-quarter loss narrowed even as revenue fell by nearly a quarter.

The engineering and construction company said it lost C$6.1 million, or C$0.10 per share in the period, compared with a loss of C$9.4 million, or C$0.15, in the year-prior quarter. The loss was less than the consensus analyst estimate that called for a loss of C$0.19 per share, according to Capital IQ.

Revenue fell 24% to C$847 million fell from last year's $1.11 billion, missing Capital IQ's forecast of C$995.8 million.

The company ended the quarter with a backlog of C$6.3 billion, up form C$6 billion on March 31, 2023. New contract awards of C$963 million were booked in the first quarter of 2024 compared with C$812 million in the same period in 2023, Aecon ( AEGXF ) said.

"With backlog of $6.3 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2024, recurring revenue programs continuing to see robust demand, and a strong bid pipeline, Aecon ( AEGXF ) believes it is positioned to achieve further revenue growth over the next few years and is focused on achieving improved profitability and margin predictability," chief executive Jean-Louis Servranckx said in a release.

Aecon ( AEGXF ) shares closed down C$0.19 to C$16.71 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.